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03 May, 2012

Agent Vinod (Hindi) (2012)

Finally we have a Desi
James Bond. Alright, not quite. Nor is he Jason Bourne. He's somewhere right
smack in the middle. Saif Ali Khan, with his home production, takes us on a
whirlwind tour of the world as his Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent goes
about trying to find a nuclear suitcase bomb and diffuse/destroy it before it
is used to start a war.

Agent Vinod is a good
attempt at the genre. It's not the best as it lacks a lot in execution. The
editing is choppy and shoddy at times, which I found to be rather annoying. The
dialogue, I'm guessing meant to be funny, is atrocious. Take for example
Kareena Kapoor, the only character in the film who has some shades of grey,
calling Agent Vinod and telling him that she's been shot in the lungs twice and
has had a lot of blood loss and then goes on to divulge some rather important
information to him. I mean, seriously. Two shots in the lungs, a lot of blood
loss, and you are still having a conversation over the phone. Yes, I know when
it comes to saving the world, everything is possible and allowed, but let’s get
real a little. There are many other instances where the dialogue just seems
cheesy and so out of place.

Thankfully, while the
dialogue might be cheesy, the film is not. It's well made with some rather brilliant
scenes. A fight scene that takes place in the past and present simultaneously
is beautifully executed. Or the scene wherein a sniper is about to attack Agent
Vinod and the camera just holds a view from behind our hero for a minute, with
nothing happening, and the anticipation builds up the tension gorgeously.

The music and background
score surprisingly plays along well with the movie. It's very different and
unexpected, but fun. The acting isn't all that bad. Unfortunately, the film is
all about Saif Ali Khan, so much so that even Kareena Kapoor despite having a
prominent role doesn't get much opportunity to shine. The supporting actors on
the other hand do wonders with the little screen time they have, especially Ram
Kapoor as Abu Nazer who is hard to recognize and proves to be quite the
character actor.

Agent Vinod is a fairly
well made film. One that, seeing the ending, can lead Saif into a good movie
franchise provided it stays clear of the typical Hindi cinema clichés. It's
also probably because of a few superbly executed scenes that I've given it a
3.5/5 star rating and mind you, it is also because of the rather absurdly
horrendous dialogue that it falls short of 4 stars.